I have been writing for Forbes since 2005. Prior to that I covered the business beat for the New York Daily News. Because I've studied both finance and journalism, and because I like both numbers & analysis and sports, what's a more fun job than merging the two, writing about sports from the business side and from the stat geek/number crunching side? I have a BS in business from Boston College and a masters in business journalism from New York University.

The biggest takeaway from our annual look at player popularity in the NFL: fans like quarterbacks, low-key pass catchers and Green Bay Packers. Who they don’t like: quarterbacks, cocky pass catchers and Dallas Cowboys.

Nielsen recently collaborated on a survey with E-Poll Market Research aimed at finding out which NFL players resonated with fans as appealing, and which didn’t. Players’ appeal numbers were scored based on the percentage of those whose response was to “like” the player or “like him a lot.”

First, a quick look at the top of each list. The most-liked player in the NFL is Troy Polumalu, the crazy-haired, high-energy defensive back from the Pittsburgh Steelers, whose appeal rating registers at 63%. Not much surprise there — talent, all-out effort and a roster spot on a nationally popular team go a long way with fans. The league’s least-liked player: Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, the second overall pick in 2010 whose early popularity slipped into reverse as he developed a reputation for dirty play. Suh, whose appeal registers at just 19%, was suspended by the league last season for stomping on a Green Bay Packers lineman in front of a national TV audience on Thanksgiving Day.

As for pass catchers: fans take a liking to workmanlike receivers Rob Gronkowski (58%) and Donald Driver (57%), but not to perceived divas Randy Moss (24%) and Santonio Homes (28%).

Overall, though, no one dominates NFL fan passion like a quarterback. Five of the 1- most-liked and seven of the 10 least-liked players in the league, the poll shows, are QBs. On the thumbs-up list: Drew Brees (62% appeal), Peyton Manning (59%), Aaron Rodgers (58%), Robert Griffin III (57%) and Matthew Stafford (56%). The overriding theme: success, broken down one of two ways. Brees, Manning, Rodgers are Super Bowl winners, while Griffin and Stafford are young talents who seem to be living up to the draft hype. Griffin, in particular, has quickly broken through with a lot of attention and endorsement spots since joining the Washington Redskins, according to Nielsen’s Senior Vice President for Sports, Stephen Master.

“He plays on a high-profile team, with a lot of good, high-profile rivalries,” Master says of Washington’s perch in the NFC East, from which they play two annual games against the Cowboys, Giants and Eagles (Master notes, incidentally, that Giants’ QB Eli Manning and his favorite target, receiver Victor Cruz, are very popular players who just missed the top 10 cutoff).

Then there are the quarterbacks who are not in the fans’ best graces: Jay Cutler (21% appeal), Michael Vick (23%), Matt Leinart (26%), Kyle Orton (27%), Tony Romo (27%), Mark Sanchez (31%) and Brady Quinn (31%). Call that list fans at their most demanding: Romo, Cutler, Vick, and Sanchez have all enjoyed degrees of success but haven’t joined Brees, Manning, and Rodgers in winning the big one (Vick also has his past legal issues of course). Meantime, Leinart and Quinn, both heralded college quarterbacks from major schools, haven’t joined Stafford or Griffin in living up to the hype.

Finally, there’s the team factor. Three Green Bay Packers — Rodgers, Driver and defensive back Charles Woodson — are among the 10 most liked players in the league. The most blatant contrast: not one but two Dallas Cowboys’ quarterbacks, Tony Romo and Kyle Orton, are among the least-liked.

Clearly, the NFL isn’t Major League Baseball, where long-term powerhouses are limited to big markets. Despite the Packers’ success — 14 playoff seasons in 19 years, including a Super Bowl title and a 15-1 season in the past two — their small-market status and vintage stadium keep them popular with fans. “They aren’t polarizing like the Yankees are in baseball,” says Master. “It’s the Cowboys that are football’s version of the Yankees.”

Romo, a good quarterback who by all accounts has never hurt anyone, and Orton, whose biggest sin was once getting caught on video drinking too much during his Denver days four years ago, can probably attest to that.

Post Your Comment

Post Your Reply

Forbes writers have the ability to call out member comments they find particularly interesting. Called-out comments are highlighted across the Forbes network. You'll be notified if your comment is called out.

Comments

It seems the list of 5 most disliked players is inaccurate. The way you described the survey was the percentage of people that like or like a lot each player. That is not the same as dislike. The lowest percentage of of people that like a player would not necessarily indicate the highest dislike. People could simply be apathetic towards that player. I would appreciate it if you went into more detail about the study if my understanding is incorrect or to relabel the list as least liked or another more accurate term.

Have you actually seen Troy P play? He is the least efficient player in the NFL – he runs everywhere and does virtually nothing. He is strickly a marketing gimmick with all that girl hair he has. I wondered what he actually did and started watching him on the field – he has virtually no impact on the play and arrives late to the play 90% of the time. He is a roster spot waster – I can’t see how he is popular since he doesn’t contribute anything to his team. He might have had impact years ago, but now he does nothing. Absolutely nothing. In fact, he is so bad now he is funny to watch – running around and arriving after the play is over. Over and over again.